PBA Wednesday Scores

Source : PBA.ph
MERALCO WINS A CLOSE ONE VS.POWERADE

Meralco relied on its defense, game-long brilliance by Gabby Espinas and late heroics by Mark
Cardona as it edged Powerade, 98-96, to climb up the ladder in the PBA Philippine Cup at the
Smart-Araneta Coliseum.


Espinas paced the Bolts with 25 points including a free throw that sealed it while Cardona had 18
points he highlighted with that baby hook he is known for with 12 seconds to go to help seal the
deal and snare them their sixth win against four losses, which was good for solo fifth place.

Aside from the clutch offensive efforts by Espinas and Cardona, Meralco also leaned on its
no-nonsense defense as it blanked Powerade with more than three minutes remaining to help steal the
win.

"We knew it beforehand it was not going to be easy and true enough, we were pushed to the limit and
thanks to Mark Cardona, he bailed us out with that clutch shot," said Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio.

"We had anxious moments, they pretty much scored at will in the middle quarters but in the end, it
was defense that also bailed us out. They have a lot of chances to pad the lead but the last three
minutes we just played tough defense," he added.

Powerade built on a strong second quarter attack with a bigger third quarter explosion, outscoring
Meralco again, 36-27, to seize an 84-79 lead going into the final 12 minutes of play.

The Tigers made their move in the second quarter when they turned a 17-23 first quarter deficit to a
42-39 advantage on six-point binge by JV Casio, this year's top rookie pick, including  a rare
four-point play and back-to-back baskets by Alex Crisano.

But the Bolts regained control with a 13-6 exchange to close the first half with a 52-48 lead in a
stretch marred by flagrant foul penalty 1 each by Meralco's Nelbert Omolon and Powerade's Gary
David, who ended the half with 15 points.

Meralco overcame a hot shooting quarter by David with a resolute, rocksolid interior defense to
seize a 23-17 after the first canto.

The Bolts lorded it over the boards with 18, including seven from Asi Taulava, as against just nine
by the Tigers.

Thankfully, David, who shaved his nate bald, exploded for 11 markers early in helping stop the
bleeding for Powerade, which led by as big as 10 points in the quarter.

The scores:

MERALCO 98 - Espinas 25, Cardona 18, Taulava 12, Mercado 11, Lanete 8, Borboran 7, Yee 6, Macapagal
4, Timberlake 3, Omolon 2, Hugnatan 2, Ballesteros 0, Isip 0.

POWERADE 96 - David 26, Kramer 17, Casio 14, Crisano 11, Lassiter 8, Lingganay 7, Calimag 6, Adducul
4, Cruz 3, Martinez 0, Vanlandingham 0, Allera 0, Antonio 0.

Quarters: 23-17, 52-48, 79-84, 98-86

Source : PBA.ph
TALK AND TEXT WIN VS. SHOPINAS

Jason Castro took  the lead role for undermanned Talk ‘N Text and played his part so well as the
Tropang Texters waylaid Shopinas.com, 96-83,  on Wednesday for their fifth consecutive victory the
PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

The Tropang Texters were without injured reigning league MVP Jimmy Alapag (foot), Ali Peek (gunshot
wound), Ryan Reyes (MCL) and Aaron Aban (ACL) but their absence didn’t matter against the
league’s newest franchise that continued its search for a first win.

Talk ‘N Text improved to a 7-1 (win-loss) record, bolstering its chance to finish the elimination
round in any of the top two spots for a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.

“The key was not to take our opponent for granted. And it was good that we got a good lead early
because it was also our goal to get our key guys rested. We’re gonna need a lot of energy and
stamina on Saturday,” said TNT head coach Reyes, referring to their scheduled road game against
Rain or Shine in Cagayan de Oro City.

The league leaders separated from the Clickers in the second quarter with Castro anchoring a 23-4
blast in tandem with Japeth Aguilar as Talk ‘N Text outscored Shopinas.com, 32-15, in the period
and took a 51-32 lead at halftime.

The Clickers, who fell to 0-10 and effectively bowed out of the playoff race, never got into the
game after that.

Castro eventually finished with 17 points with four assists and got a lot of help from his
teammates.

Aguilar backed him up with a double-double effort (16 points, 11 rebounds) and five blocks while
Harvey Carey was just as dominating with 10 points and 10 rebounds as the Tropang Texters  plastered
Shopinas.com, 61-53, off the boards.

Ranidel de Ocampo also came off the bench and chipped in 10 points.

While they appear to be sitting comfortably at the top, Reyes contends their future in the
tournament remains uncertain.

“It hard to tell how many more wins we need. We have a very tough schedule ahead. Hopefully we
will continue to find a way to get production from all the players to survive,” Reyes said.

The game was close in the first quarter as the two teams shot poorly with Talk ‘N Text going 4-of-
14 while Shopinas.com making just 7 of 26 attempts.

After the Clickers’ Paulo Hubalde scored on a fallaway to make the count 27-28, Carey made two
free throws, Riego Gamalinda knocked in an 8-footer before Castro scored 10 straight points
including two 3-point shots.

Then Aguilar took over, hitting six straight points before Larry Fonacier ended the telling run that
gave Talk ‘N Text a 51-21 advantage late in the second quarter.

Jojo Duncil scored 16 on a 6-of-13 shooting for Shopinas.com. Elmer Espiritu and Paul Escobal had 13
apiece while James Sena grabbed 11 rebounds for the Clickers, who shot a woeful 34 percent (31 of
91) for the game. (DBC)

The scores:

TALK N' TEXT 96 - Castro 17, Aguilar 16, De Ocampo 10, Carey 10, Dillinger 8, Williams 8, Gamalinda
6, Oreta 5, Raymundo 4, Weinstein 4, Fonacier 4, Membrere 2, Lao 2.

SHOPINAS.COM 83 - Duncil 16, Espiritu 13, Escobal 13, Jazul 7, Sena 6, Menor 6, Hubalde 5, Sison 4,
Aquino 4, Ritualo 4, Daa 3, Mirza 2, Canlas 0.

Quarterscores: 19-17, 51-32, 76-52, 96-83

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